Singer and songwriter Dan Johnson will be in Conroe at The Red Brick Tavern on Saturday night. Johnson is touring the country in support of his album "Hemingway" which addresses PTSD and veteran suicide.

Singer and songwriter Dan Johnson will be in Conroe at The Red Brick Tavern on Saturday night. Johnson is touring the country in support of his album "Hemingway" which addresses PTSD and veteran suicide.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

Photo: Courtesy Photo

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Singer and songwriter Dan Johnson will be in Conroe at The Red Brick Tavern on Saturday night. Johnson is touring the country in support of his album "Hemingway" which addresses PTSD and veteran suicide.

Singer and songwriter Dan Johnson will be in Conroe at The Red Brick Tavern on Saturday night. Johnson is touring the country in support of his album "Hemingway" which addresses PTSD and veteran suicide.

He grew up on a farm in Kentucky in poverty where music and storytelling was their main source of entertainment. Following his veteran father’s death from suicide when Johnson was 11, as he dealt feelings of anger and resentment in his teens, it was music that kept him in school and got him to graduation.

He’s now using his music and his life experiences to reach out to soldiers who are battling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and share how their loved ones and friends can support them.

In late July, Johnson released the album “Hemingway” on State Fair Records. This unique project speaks to the crisis situation of veteran suicides in this country and stands as a message of how generations can be impacted by this kind of loss and how people can intercede on behalf of those who aren’t reaching out on behalf of themselves. He’s now touring the country on behalf of this project.

The album — produced by Johnson and producer Adam Odor — consists of five songs and five companion short stories, all fictionalized accounts of Johnson’s own life experiences.

Johnson, who lives in Fort Worth, will bring the project and his message to Conroe this Saturday when he performs at The Red Brick Tavern, 119 Simonton Street in downtown Conroe. The show is at 9:30 p.m. and tickets are $7.

Johnson met Red Brick Tavern owner Debbie Glenn when she judged a songwriting competition in College Station. She introduced him to Conroe and to the active VFW unit here.

Early life

Johnson grew up on a farm in Kentucky with an extended family of 13.

He said they grew up poor and didn’t even have a television so their main entertainment was playing music and storytelling.

His father, Terry, who grew up in the country liked more outlaw country and Southern Rock tunes. His mother, who grew up in the city, liked singer songwriters like James Taylor and Carole King and she had an affinity for Motown hits.

Johnson’s father was in the military as a firefighter and while he was stationed in Italy, he fell through the roof of a building permanently damaging his back. He was unable to find work and support his family due to the injury and according to biographical information, he found little support from the military.

He felt like the military had turned its back on him. Not being able to support his family, he took his own life when Johnson was 11.

Johnson reflects now, even as an 11 year old then, there were warning signs and considers how things would have been different had he spoken up about his father’s anger and sadness.

“I was extremely angry and troubled for a long time,” Johnson said. “I nearly dropped out of school because of it.”

It was through the support of his high school music director and his involvement in music that he finished high school.

Johnson started performing live when he was 17, but in his senior year, Johnson became a father and his partner at the time did not want him to pursue a music career.

He continued to play music and write songs at home in private as his children grew.

A troubled path

As a young adult, Johnson’s relationships suffered as a result of his anger at his childhood.

At one point, he considered suicide.

One clear realization pulled him back from the edge.

“I finally realized that all of the anger and unfairness of my childhood was causing me to make choices that were selfish and made me feel better,” he said. “Then I realized I was about to do the same thing that my dad had done to me. A lot of things changed in that moment.”

He channeled those feelings into music and lyrics.

“I’d write down all these difficult feelings I was having and turned them into pretty songs,” he said. “People can take the most immensely dark and gripping experience and if they turn that into a pretty song, then all the sudden it’s something that people look forward to. It takes the power and grit out of the feelings and makes it something enjoyable.”

Through writing music, and writing down his feelings, he had a way to deal with the power of those negative feelings.

The Hemingway Project

When he was 36, Johnson returned to performing music publicly.

In adulthood, Johnson toured Ernest Hemingway’s home in Key West, Florida and it had a profound impact on him.

Hemingway’s brilliant life and tragic suicide inspired the haunting lyrics of Johnson’s song that says “He took the Hemingway out.”

Johnson said he wrote “Hemingway” very privately and personally never intending to share it with anyone.

But he did end up sharing it with a veteran friend who had come back home with some PTSD issues.

“He said you have to start playing this song at all your shows,” Johnson said. “He told me ‘You never know who you’ll be able to reach.’”

He began to incorporate the song and his dad’s story into all of his shows.

He was doing a show in Ireland where he sang “Hemingway.” He didn’t expect any Americans to be in the audience but he noticed there was an active duty American soldier crying in the back.

“After the show, he came up to me and said ‘I think I need to buy you a beer. You just saved my life,’” Johnson said.

They sat and talked and cried together.

It was at this point, Johnson realized he really needed to “put some legs under this” and see how many people he can reach.

In 2016, he founded OperationHemingway.org, an online organization dedicated to educating the public about suicide warning signs and treatment options to find help for veterans who may be suffering. He said the Hemingway project has been the first thing to bring him peace over his father’s death.

Through many relationships with friends in the military he has come to understand that a lot of veterans who find themselves in this same life and death tug of war will not pick up the phone to get help. That possibly, the intervention of a friend or family member who is willing to really listen can move mountains in someone’s life.

“So many people are uncomfortable talking about the subject, but the more understanding and education there is, the more impact we can have,” he said.

He said he doesn’t need a big national effort to get his message across.

He’s seeking out one-on-one interactions and he said that level of interaction has proved profoundly effective.

“We need just one person to wrap their arm around someone that they are worried about and say ‘I will get you through this,’” he said.

And while Saturday’s show will contain information about PTSD and suicide prevention, he said the show will be an enjoyable and uplifting experience.

“You can take home information about what you can do to help on a personal level, but largely its a way to get people together to say it’s ok and this is a very comfortable way to stand up for the protection and defense of people who have stood up for your protection and defense.”